Skeet and trap sight



Elm"!!! Feb. 26, 1946. R. 1.5 e. HUGHSTON SKEET AND. TRAP SIGHT Filed May 13, 1943 will/Ill INVEN TOR. I

A'ITD R N EYE Patented Feb. 26, 1946 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Claims.

My invention relates to sight devices for guns and more particularly for guns used in skeet shooting and has among its objects and advantages the provision of an improved gun sight designed to facilitate aiming of a gun to obtain the correct horizontal leads from the various shooting stations of a skeet shooting field with relation to the flight path of a target.

In the accompanying drawing;

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic outline of the receiver of an automatic shot gun showing my invention applied thereto.

Figure 2 is a face view of the sight,

Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional view along the line 33 of Figure 2,

Figure 4 is an inside face view of the sight,

Figure 5 is an enlarged sectional view along the line 5-5 of Figure 4,

Figure 6 is a face view of a sight adjusting disk, and

Figure 7 is a diagrammatic plan view of a conventional skeet shooting field.

In the embodiment of the invention selected for illustration, I make use of a conventional shot gun In to the receiver l2 of which is mounted a sight mechanism I4.

The sight mechanism I4 comprises a base part I6 contoured to fit snugly to the receiver l2 and is fixed thereto by three screws I8. A rotary sight disk lies adjacent the flat face 22 of the base I6, which disk is provided with a circular raised boss 24 which is located centrally on the disk and fitted in a correspondingly shaped depression 26 in a cover 28. This cover is attached to the base I6 by screw 30. While the cover 28 is fixed to the base Hi, the disk 20 is rotatably housed between the cover and the base.

A pivot post 32 is fixed to the disk 20 and extends through an opening 34 in the cover' 28.

To the post 32 is fixedly attached an adjusting knob 36. A bore 38 is provided in the knob 36 for the reception of the post 32, and a screw 40 extends through the knob and is threaded into the post 32 to fixedly relate the knob, the post and sighting disk 20.

The base I6 is preferably formed of material which may be molded or machined to the desired shape. If a molded base I 6 is used, a metal plate 42 is molded therein, this plate and the base being provided with an opening 44 for receiving a centering pin 46 fixed to the disk 20. In Figure 6, the disk 20 is provided with openings 48, 50, 52 and 54 which selectively receive a latch ball 56 when the disk 20 is rotated to different sighting 55 positions, the ball 56 yieldingly latching the disk in its respective positions.

As shown in Figures 3 and 5, the ball 56 is slidably mounted in a tubular element 58 which contains a spring 60 for pressing the ball 56 against the disk 20. This spring is held under compression by a plug 62 threaded into the tubular element 58. The end of the tubular element 58 containing ball 56 is bored .005 of an inch smaller than the diameter of ball 56 to keep it in place under compression by spring 60.

A lateral extension 64 is fixed to the tubular element 58 and is provided with a threaded bore 66 into which is threaded a pin 68 rotatably mounted in a sleeve 10 comprising an integral part of the plate 42. This sleeve extends through a side flange I2 on the base I6, and the pin 68 includes a cylindrical body I4 provided with a circumferential groove I6 for the reception of a pin I8 driven through an opening in the sleeve. Thus the pin 68 is latched against relative longitudinal movement with respect to the sleeve, but the pin may be rotated to shift the tubular element 58 to locate the ball 56 in the proper position. A screw driver slot is provided in a head 82 of the cylindrical body to facilitate adjustment of the pin.

As shown in Figure 6, the upper face of disk 20 is provided with radial lines 84, 88, 88 and 90. These lines divide this face of the disk into sector shaped areas 92, 94, 96 and 98 of progressively larger size. Sight marks I00, I02, I04 and I06 of semi-circular shape are provided on the areas 92 through 98, respectively. These half round 7 sight marks are located at the peripheral margin of the disk 20, and the cover 28 is provided with a recess I08 which expose a limited peripheral edge margin of the disk 20, as seen at Figure 2.

The marks I00 through I06 may be selectively brought into View through rotation of the disk 20, as by exerting a turning effort on the knob 36. The openings 48 through 54 are associated with the half sight marks I 00 through I06, respectively, so as to latch the disk 20 as each half sight mark is brought into its correct sighting position.

The openings 48, 50, 52 and 54 engageable with the latching ball 56 may advantageously be located on lines radially of the disk and through the centers of the respective half round sight marks and at the intersection with a circle having a radius corresponding to the radial displacement of the ball 56 from the axis of the disk.

On the outer face of the knob 36 is marked a radial line I22 in radial registration with the sight mark I00 and having the figures 2 and 6 marked thereat to indicate the use of this sight designation when shooting from stations 2 and 6 of a skeet field. A second line mark I24 is in radial alignment with the sight mark I02 having the designating characters 3 and 5 indicating use of stations 3 and 5 of the field while a third mark I26 in radial alignment with side mark I04 is designated by the numeral 4 indicating use at station 4. Still another radial line I28 registering with sight mark I06 has the identifying characters I, I and 8 indicating use at stations I, l and 8 without the use of horizontal leads inasmuch as these stations will require vertical leads on the target rather than horizontal ones.

When shooting from stations 2 or 6 of the semi-circular shooting path of a skeet field,

with the flight path of the target is required, the knob is turned to bring the sector area 92 in registration with the sight opening. This will dispose the half round sight mark I00 in sighting alignment with the front sight of the gun while the radial lead lines 84 and 86 will be spaced at equal angular distances at each side of the center of the sight mark I00. The gun is then aimed through the aligned center sights along the flight path of the target and to a position in the said path in advance of the target. When the target attains a. position in sight alignment with the eye and the lead line 84 or 86 depending on the direction of movement of the target, in the sightingfield of vision the gun is fired. Thus, an accurate predetermined angle of lead is provided for these stations." When the gun equipped with the improved sighting device is to be fired from stations nearer the center of the arcuate shooting path, as for instance stations 3 and 5, the

knob is adjusted to bring the disk area 94 into registration with the sight opening, providing a greater lead angle through the greater spacing of the lead lines 86 and 88 with respect to the centrally disposed sight mark I02 for accurate shooting at these positions. At the centrally located stations 4 of the field the dial is adjusted to bring the sighting area 96 into sighting position in the sight opening and presenting the more widely spaced radial lead lines 88 and 90 in lead sighting position. The remaining sight mark N16 is brought into sighting position when shooting from the straight line stations I, l and 8 wherein the radial lead lines are eliminated due to the absence of any substantial horizontal lead requirements on the target. This sight is also employed for stationary target shooting and the like where a, horizontal lead is not employed.

As will be readily apparent from the foregoing, my sighting device will enable accurate determination of the lead angle, that is the correct aiming position for fire in advance of the flight of a skeet target from the various stations of a skeet field.

I marks on the edge of said disk for shooting at wherein a relatively small horizontalleadangle It is to be understood that the form of my invention herewith shown and described is to be taken as a preferred example of the same and that various changes relative to the material, size, shape and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the subjoined claims.

I claim:

1. In a gun sight of the type described, the combination of asupporLadaptedtmbeattached to thehresgLend gj a gun, a disk rotatably mounted on said support, a cover mounted on said support for enclosing said disk and having an opening exposing a limited upper peripheral edge margin of the disk, sight marks and lead targets from predetermined positions and angles, means for rotating said disk to selectively expose said marks through said opening, and means yieldingly latching the disk in its respective sighting positions.

2. The invention described in claim 1 wherein said last mentioned means comprise a spring pressed element and coacting shoulder means on said disk.

3. The invention described in claim 1 wherein said last mentioned means comprise a spring pressed element and coacting shoulder means on said disk, and means for adjusting said spring pressed element to precisely locate its disk latching position.

4. In a gun sighting device of the character described, a revoluble disk, means for mounting the said disk for selective adjustment in sighting position on a gun, the said disk having a front face provided with sight marks at varying angularly spaced positions thereon, and radial lines disposed on the front face of the disk, each line being so related with the respective sight marks that its end portion provides a lead sight at a predetermined angle with the bore of the gun to enable accurate determination of the required shooting lead when shooting from a selected position in reference to the flight path of a moving target.

5. In a gun sighting device of the character described, a flat rotatable sighting disk, means for mounting the said disk for rotation for selective angular adjustment in sighting position on a gun, the said sighting disk having sight marks and radial lines at a marginal portion of its front face, the said marks being disposed at varying angularly spaced positions and each of said radial lines being so related with the respective sight marks that it provides a lead sight at a predetermined angle with the bore of the gun to enable accurate determination of the required shooting lead when shooting from a selected position in 0 reference to the flight path of a moving target.

ROBERT LE GRANDE HUGHSTON. 

